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SECOND OREGON. 



A Brilliant Record of Heroic Achievements. 



"I proseut the record of tliese men as the tribute of tlio State of Oregon to flag 
anil country. As citizens of that fair, young, Western State, Avhere 'rolls the 
Oregon,' we are j)rou<l of tliem, wo cherish the living, we honor the dead, and 
shall erect tilting monuments to their memory.'" 



SPEECH 



OF 



/ 



HON. THOMAS H. TON 



OF OREGON, 



IN 'MIE 




HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



K4ARCH 27, 1900. 



W^VStilNGXON. 

1900, 






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XMP96-022^30 



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SPEECH 

OF 

HOX. THOMAS H. TONGUE. 



The Honse being in Committee of the Whole House on the state of theJ; nion 
and havinj; under consideration the bill (H. R. 8582) making appi-opriai^ion for 
the support of the Regular and Volunteer Army for the fiscal yea/ endin 
June 30, 19U1— 

Mr. TONGUE said: 

Mr. Chairman: A few days ago the gentleman from Temnessee 
[Mr. Sims] commented upon the services, casualties, and' j)ension 
applications of certain volunteer regiments engaged in tjie late war 
with Spain. / 

For some purpose which I do not understand h^nstituted a 
comparison between eight Northern regiments and eight Southern 
regiments. I quote from the record of the gentleman's remarks 
the following: / 

I now read, and insert as a part of my remarks, a list of eight regiments 
of volunteers who took part in the Santiago battles, with the list of casualties 
and number of applications for pensions. ' 






List of casual- 
ties in Santi- 
ago battles. 


Number of claims 
filed on account 
of service. 


Regiments of volunteers. 

• 




'6 

O 




O 


> 

r! 


O 


(=1 

CD 

© 


-(-3 
O 


Second Massachusetts Infantry - 


5 
15 
13 


40 
76 
60 


43 


45 

93 

116 


424 
209 
355 
409 
552 
413 
466 
447 


15 
16 
11 

'vs 

9 
Q 
5 


28 
16 
39 
10 
78 
37 
60 
35 


467 


First United States Volunteer Cavalry . 

Seventy-first New York Infantry 

First District of Columbia Infantry 


241 
305 
419 


Ninth Massachusetts Infantry 










645 


Thirtv-third Michigan Infantry 










459 


Thirty-fourth Michigan Infantry.. 










535 


Eighth Ohio Infantry 










487 














Total 


33 


176 


45 


254 


3,175 


80 


303 


3,588 







It will be seen by reference to these tables that the 8 volunteer regiments 
had a total of 209 killed and wounded, and that the applications for pensions 
filed by these 8 regiments are 3,588, or 17 applications for pensions filed for 
each soldier killed or wounded. 

It will be seen that the above 8 volunteer regiments are from Massachu- 
setts. New York, District of Columbia, Michigan, and Ohio— all from the 
North, where it is popular to favor liberal pensions. 

4267 3 



I now read and make a part of my remarks a list of casualties and applica- 
tions for i)ensions for 8 other volunteer regiments, as follows: 

Volunteer regiments in the tvar ivith SjJain. 



Regiments. 



Casualties. 



o 



M 



- cc S 

^ O 03 

S =« S 

Soft 



First Alabama Infantry 

First Georgia Infantry. 

First Kentucky Infantry- 

First Mississippi Infantry 

First South Carolina Infantry. 

Firsi Tennessee Infantry 

Second Tennessee Infantry 

First Texas Infantry 



1.651 
i;831 
1,331- 
1,141 
1,369 
3,026 
1,419 
1,397 



16 
11 

28 
30 
18 
25 
15 
15 



16 
11 
28 
30 
18 
26 
15 
15 



71 

65 

123 

66 

110 

174 

93 

60 



Total 



158 



159 



761 



It will be seen that the total number of deaths, killed, and wounded in these 
8 regiments are 159; that the total number of pension applications by soldiers 
of these 8 regiments are 761, or, in round numbers, 4 applications for each death 
in these 8 regiments. : 

These last B regiments are from the States of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, 
Mississippi, Sonth Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, where the pension evil 
has not reached the horrid proportions it has in the Northern States, and 
where the people are still willing to make a living by honest toil and are not 
knocking at the doors of Congress day and night tor the passage of legislation 
enabling them to appropriate the hard earnings of other people to their own 
use. 

The extreme Injustice of these tables and comparisons is ap- 
parent to the most casual observer. In the northern regiments no 
account is taken of deaths, except of those killed in battle. By 
counting only the killed and wounded in the northern regiments, 
he finds that there are 17 pension applications for each soldier 
killed and wounded. Had the gentleman followed the same 
method of comparison for the 8 southern regiments, he would 
have found that there are 761 pension applications for each sol- 
dier killed and wounded in those regiments. What gl©ry can be 
gained by such a comparison is beyond my comprehension. If 
these soldiers had need of a champion to praise or defend them, 
they should pray to be saved from their friend from Tennessee. 

But, Mr. Chairman, the attempt to institute a comparison be- 
■tween Northern and Southern soldiers is unjustifiable for any 
purpose or from any point of view. The courage, devotion, and 
patriotism of the American soldier, North or South, East or West, 
in the late war, or in any war, has been conceded by all, ques- 
tioned by none, except so far as it is called in question by the re- 
marks of the gentleman from Tennessee. The bravery of the 
Southern soldier in the late war, as in every war in which he has 
drawn his sword, has been and is conceded by the people of the 
North as freely as by the people of the South. No soldier in any 
age, in any country, or in any section exhibited unflinching cour- 
age in a higher degree than the soldiers who made, as well as the 
soldiers who repulsed, the immortal Pickett's charge on the fields 
of Gettysburg. 

4367 



But why does the gentleman now raise this cry of sectionalism? 
What good purpose can be served? One of the most beneficial 
and glorious results of the late war was the welding together of 
the North and the South— a firmer union of one people, under 
one flag. 

The attack of a foreign enemy, the insult to the flag, the destruc- 
tion of American lives by a treacherous people, was miraculous 
in its effect upon our divided countrymen. It healed every wound 
of the civil war, brushed aside every cause for estrangement, and 
welded our divided country into a more perfect and lasting union. 
Sectional lines were obliterated. The bitterness that had lingered 
so long was efl'aced. Old hatreds were forgotten, and Confederate 
and Federal, the Blue and the Gray, the men who made and the 
men who repulsed Pickett's charge, united as one man, under one 
flag, in defense of one country. In the language of a distinguished 
Southern Senator, in an instant "there was no North, no South; 
one country and one flag." 

I warn the gentleman from Tennessee that no patriotic citizen 
of the United States should attempt to destroy this union of sen- 
timent and substitute the old-time bitter feelings of sectionalism. 

But, Mr. Chairman, I did not rise so much to criticise the gen- 
tleman from Tennessee as to call attention to the record of a regi- 
ment he has failed to notice. I would not institute any odious 
comparisons with any other regiment. I would not attempt to 
distract one iota from the praise or fame or glory due to any other 
soldier. I simply want to call attention and give a just meed of 
praise to a regim'ent whose history is such a record of itiflinching 
courage, undying devotion to the flag, danger defied .^'^battles he- 
roically fought, and victories won that the heart of 'every man, 
woman, and child in our own State thrills with pride at the men- 
tion of the Second Oregon. Let me place the recorcfof this regi- 
ment side by side with those named by the gentleman from Ten- 
nessee. ' 

Record of Second Oregon Infantry. 

Killed 16 

Wounded- 74 

Missing 3 

Died 4 

Total casualties 137 

Number of pension applications 178 

It will be seen that there are approximately one and one-fourth 
pension applications for each soldier, dead, wounded, and missing, 
and less than two pension applications for each soldier killed and 
wounded, as against 761 pension applications for each soldier killed 
and wounded in the eight regiments whose records were eulogized 
by the gentleman from Tennessee. But this by no means gives a 
complete record of the Second Oregon; its glory rests on much 
more solid foundation. 

The Santiago campaign lasted from June 23 to July 17 — in all, 
25 days. The Second Oregon anchored at Manila Bay June 80, 
1898, and embarked for the return journey June 14, 1899. It en- 
gaged in the first battle at Manila, February 5, 1899, and ended its 
fighting career by the capture of Aryat at 5 a. m. and Pasing at 
9 a. m. May 22, 1899. In this fighting campaign of three months 
and seventeen days it marched 538 miles in rain and mud and 
through unbroken country. It fought, and it is needless to say 
won, 42 battles, skirmishes, and engagements; it merited and re- 
ceived words of praise from every general who commanded it in 

4267 



6 

the field — from Anderson, Wheaton, Merritt, and on three occa- 
sions from the bravest of the brave, the gallant, lamented Lawton. 

The quality of the men who composed the Second Oregon was 
indicated by a brief order of General Wheaton at Melinto: "Or- 
derly, overtake those Oregon greyhounds on the road to Polo and 
order them to Melinto. Go mounted, or you will never catch them. " 
When, after the glorious victory at Malabon, General Wheaton 
was asked, "Where are your regulars?" he pointed to the Second 
Oregon, saying, '• There are my regulars." A volume would not 
record the heroic deeds of those boys. At Malabon those brave young 
soldiers charged across the open rice fields, upon which they left 
many dead and wounded, in the face of a murderous fire from an 
entrenched foe and planted the Stars and Stripes upon the fortifi- 
cation of a defeated enemy. No veterans the world ever saw 
showed more cool, steady, and determined courage than the boys 
of the Second Oregon in that magnificent conflict. 

The story of this regiment would be incomplete without some 
description of the men who composed it. People look to the West 
for brave, but rough, strength of character. Doubtless you are 
thinking that these soldier boys learned skill with the rifle, cool- 
ness in danger, and endurance in camp and on the march in the wild 
frontiers, hunting in the mountains, or herding on the plains of 
some imaginary " wild and woolly West." ijet me undeceive you. 
These men were of the best " ye breed " in every sense. Out of 
the 1,190 enlisted men, there were 531 of these members of differ- 
ent church organizations; 114 were college graduates, 156 were 
students, 34 were merchants, 28 were teachers, 15 were lawyers, 
15 were bookkeepers, 141 were clerks, 123 were farmers, 69 were 
skilled mechanics, and 175 'were laborers. 

When a railroad was captured, the Second Oregon furnished an 
engineer, wlio had left employment at $150 a month, to man the 
engine. ¥/hen a town with waterworks out of repair was cap- 
tured, the Second Oregon furnished the engineer to repair the 
waterworks and x)ut them in running order. When the custom- 
house was organized, the Second Oregon furnished largely the 
clerical force, as it did for the quartermaster's department. 
When an educational system was instituted in Manila, a private 
from the Second Oregon became superintendent of public in- 
struction. 

It is the old story. The most remarkable courage is intelligent 
courage. The bully from the prize ring, w^hen the real conflict 
comes, is a coward by the side of the more intelligent young man, 
who has left behind him a mother, wife, sister, or sweetheart, 
whose name he fears to tarnish even by the appearance of cow- 
ardice. 

I present the record of these men as the tribute of the State of 
Oregon to flag and country. As citizens of that fair young West- 
ern State, where "rolls the Oregon," we are proud of them. We 
cherish the living, we honor the dead, and shall erect fitting monu- 
ments to their memory. 

That other American soldiers under like conditions would 
have done nobly I doubt not. But it fell to the lot of the Second 
Oregon to be placed in a situation where supreme courage was 
the imperative need of the hour. Like true heroes they rose equal 
to their opportunities and the occasion; met every emergency, 
responded to every demand, discharged every duty, laughed at 
every danger, and left behind them a record of heroic achieve- 

4267 



ments never excelled in any land or in any age. Not only the 
State of Oregon, not only their own countrj'-, but their race should 
be proud of such men. Their record proves what humanity can 
and will achieve, what it can and will suffer, when duty calls for 
great suffering or great achievement. 

Mr. Chairman, if this Republic should be endangered, it will 
be through the negligence, not the wickedness, of its citizens. 

The welfare and happiness of every man, woman, and child are 
dependent upon the honor of their country's flag, the quality of 
its laws, and the proper administration of every department of 
its Government. Our country iDreserves for us all that we have 
that makes life worth living. It protects property from the hands 
of violence, reputation from the tongue of slander, family honor 
from the invader of homes. The eloquence of Demosthenes, the 
music of Milton, the humanity of Shakespeare, the wisdom, devo- 
tion, and patriotism of Lincoln could not have flourished under; 
the hand of tyranny. 

But to properly preserve and administer every department of a 
great government wisely and well, to enact and enforce good 
laws, to give to each citizen as much freedom of action as is con- 
sistent with public safety and the welfare of others, requires 
thought, toil, intelligence, patriotic devotion to the country's wel- 
fare. It requires the faithful, conscientious performance/)^ his 
public duties by every citizen of the entire country. A govern- 
ment like ours should be in fact, as well as in name, a/govern- 
ment by the people and by all the people. The man who shirks, 
who fails to do his part, is recreant to a most sacred dnty. 

The man who receives the blessings and protection b,estowed by 
a government like ours and does not in return perfor?h faithfully 
and conscientiously his own public duties is taking something for 
nothing, something he has not earned, and is guilty of moral lar- 
ceny. Yet there are men of wealth, the protection 'of whose per- 
sons and property occupies the time of our oourts, the watchful 
care and attention of our officers, the thought and labor of our 
legislators, the courage and suffering and lives of our soldiers, 
who never in their lives gave a moment's thoughtful consideration 
to a single public duty. 

There are men of culture, educated at schools supported by the 
public or by the endowment of patriotic men, who draw closely 
about them their robes of self-righteousness and shrink from public 
duties as something that might contaminate their immaculate 
purity or darken the whiteness of their hands. But even this is 
not all. Not content with neglecting their own public and polit- 
ical duties, they stimulate and encourage others to equal guilt with 
themselves. They point the finger of scorn at those whose iDublic 
duties are well and faithfully done. They proclaim that politics 
are unclean, that public men are coarse, selfish politicians, that 
voters are corrupt. This is a vile, damnable slander upon many 
men who are infinitely their superiors in the discharge of public 
duties. 

Against the example and conduct of such as these it is a pleas- 
ure to place the record of a band of men who have done their 
full public duties like heroes and patriots. They received little 
from the Common weath, yet offered to lay down their lives for it. 
Of the average citizen their country requires little of his time or 
thought or labor, and this little is too often denied. These sol- 
diers, young men on the threshold of their lives, took life and 
4367 



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limb and happiness, all they have, or are, or hope be, and placed 
all on the altar of our common country, and some, alas, completed 
this great sacrifice. No wonder that when these boys returned to 
Oregon the woods and hills, the mountains and valleys rang with 
joyous welcome, and the very birds sang diviner and more inspir- 
ing songs in their honor. 

A word for the heroic dead. They have performed the noblest 
and subiimest act it is given to humanity to achieve; they have 
given their lives for their country. Theirs were not lives nearing 
their close, worn out with dissipation, broken with toil, devoid 
of hope, their cup of happiness drained to the dregs, and nothing 
left worth living for. Theirs were lives at the beginning, unspent, 
everything to hope, everything to achieve, everything to live for. 
Before the prime of manhood had been reached their life's work 
had been done and well done. Their rest will be eternal, their 
fame secure. For those v/ho returned, full of hope and full of 
Ijonor, life holds many temptations and many dangers; the rest 
and happiness they crave may not be theirs. 

Hope may turn to disappointment; the honors they have so 
proudly won may be sullied ; we hope and pray not. The fame 
and honor of no man is safe tliis side of the grave. But the fame of 
these heroic men, "dead on the field of honor," is secure. Their 
honor will bo forever unsullied, their memory will be like sweet 
loerfuiiie. They have received and are wearing their crown, and 
no power on earth or in heaven will pluck it from their brows. 

On Fame's eternal camping ground 

Their silent tents are spread, 
And Glory guards with solemn round 

The bivouac of the dead. 

These men and their thousand comrades in a few months of 
war achieved more for their State, more for their country and its 
future advancement and future greatness; made more and grander 
history; have written their names higher and more legibly upon 
the scroll of fame than the 100,000 men who remained at home 
will in a lifetime of peaceful occupation. 

The gratitude of their country will be theirs for all time; their 
memory will be cherished as long as youth loves life; their ex- 
amples will be a treasure and an inheritance of inestimable value 
to generations yet unborn. 

Through the late conflict our nation has received a new baptism 
of freedom; we have acquired new heroism and new heroes for 
f utare and higher inspirations. We have placed patriotism above 
business and valued liberty more than Avealth. The hearts of 
poet and orator have been touched with a holier fire. We have 
learned diviner songs, instinct with national spirit, and that thrill 
and throb through every heart, East, West, North, and South. 

Now, more than ever, we are one people, having one language 
and one law and under one flag. And among those who have 
contributed to this glorious result, in the first rank, second to 
none, stands the Second Oregon. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. Mr. Chairman, before proceeding with my 
remarks, I want to thank the gentleman ^ho has just taken his 
seat for the complimentary way in which he referred to Pickett's 
division at Gettysburg. I believe, Mr. Chairman, that I am the 
only man on the floor of this House who was in that charge, and 
I am proader of it than he possibly can be. [Loud applause.] 

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